Revelations and Bonds
by Seiichi Yotsuba
Summary: A two-shot on a different take of one Ichika Orimura and his relationship with one Chifuyu Orimura
1. The Revelation

_This two-shot is based in the IS universe. It has potential to evolve into a story, but I'll most probably not do so. If you want this to continue, then please tell me. You have two months. BTW, this starts from Laura transferring in. It's an 1/1000 pairing._

* * *

The day was beautiful. Ichika Orimura was looking forward to a peaceful day at the IS Academy- one without jealous women ganging up on him.

He loved Houki Shinonono, Cecilia Alcott, and Lingyin 'Rin' Huang well enough, and platonically, and was aware that Charles Dunois is actually a girl (he wasn't that dumb, considering that he knew that Houki, Cecilia and Rin had major crushes on him) named Charlotte Dunois. It didn't stop him from being hit by IS parts almost every situation, despite his unwillingness to date anyone. And that irritated him- he was no one's playtoy.

Now a new transfer student has come from Germany, and with four girls already on his case, he isn't sure of his sanity handling another potential berserker.

In comes the transfer student and she stands by on the Teacher's dais. She's short, has silver hair and a brownish crimson eye- the other eye is under a patch.

"Introduce yourself" snaps his older sister and homeroom teacher, Chifuyu.

"Yes, Instructor. I'm Laura Bodewig. The end" she snaps out in reply.

The assistant homeroom teacher, Ms. Maya Yamada is flustered, and asks "Could you say something else about yourself? Please?" but Laura wasn't even listening. She was actually staring around discretely.

When she saw Ichika, her eyes showed hatred, and he knew he would have to show some of his deeply hidden spine. She quickly stalked toward him and said "So, it's you."

She then proceeded to slap him... or so it would've happened, but Ichika was more prepared to dodge. Again, that should've happened. He caught her hand and went on to pull her in, then punched her squarely in the nose. Laura ended up sprawled on the dais, with a bleeding nose. She was also clocked out.

The class was shell-shocked. Ichika Orimura, 'No-Flies-Harmed' Ichika, as he was known among the girls for his refusal to harm a woman, had just exerted violence on a girl. Chifuyu was not sure she was seeing her kind-hearted brother, and Houki and Cecilia were wondering if Ichika really hated her (they didn't know that he was quite ready to punch them as well).

He then stood up, and dragged her by the scruff of her collar, saying "Orimura-sensei, Yamada-sensei, I'll take her to the infirmary. Excuse us, please." and left the classroom, to let the silence permeate.

"I'll follow them. You stay here, Yamada-sensei" said Chifuyu. She then proceeded to stalk them, to make sure that this Ichika didn't behave even more rashly.

Ichika dragged her to an empty arena, and ragdolled Laura down. That woke her up, and she wasn't happy. "You- you bastard! You'll pay for that!" was her yell before she activated her IS.

Unfortunately, Ichika was too fast. He went ahead and placed her in a chokehold, and then asked her in a voice that chilled even Chifuyu's blood "What's your problem, bitch? You wanna die?" Chifuyu knew then that Ichika had some explaining to do. But Laura doesn't learn very well, apparently.

"Let me go! And return Instructor Orimura to Germany right now!" was her defiant reply, and was the worst thing to tell Ichika as well.

"I see, you're one of her trainees from her stint in Germany. Well, news flash, missy! Your beloved instructor was there for a year because of worthless little me! I don't know even then why she saved me, and I don't give a damn about that as well. All I know is that I owe her more than my life, and that is enough for me. So, if I catch you coercing her into returning, then her blade is nothing compared to what I'll do. Your idol-worship is unwelcome to her. **Be respectful, but DO NOT interfere in her life, especially if you want to live as Laura Bodewig. IS THAT CLEAR?**" he ended his speech with a roar. His voice grew more menacing with each word as well. If every girl heard this at that moment, they would really fall for him.

Chifuyu, having heard it, was equally affected, but one phrase kept floating in her thoughts. ' 'Worthless little me', he said, 'worthless little me'. He doesn't even know what he means to me, how proud I am of him. Even this side of him, he hid from me, and that just increases the pride I hold. Yet he called himself worthless. When have I ever shown that he was worthless? When did he start feeling that way?'

As she thought of that she looked through her memories. What she found had her aghast at herself, and she knew that she had failed him. 'I never really showed him that I cared for him, not one bit, especially after 'that' happened. Just how does Ichika manage to live thinking that I think he's worthless? And how did I manage to think that Ichika was happy in life just as he was? No, the situation has grown untenable. My damn working persona has ruined my relationship with my treasure! And I will change it!'

Meanwhile, Laura was scared shitless. 'Who is this devil? How did I manage to anger him? And how do I placate him? Best obey him and be a proper student now ' " A-Alright. I'll do it. But let me at least speak to her about it, please. I want her to know how I feel." was her heartfelt and fearful plea.

"That's up to her. If she wants to speak to you, go ahead. I see a sign of coercion, though, and bets are off." was Ichika's merciful(?) reply. He then told her to play along, and the three of them proceeded to go to the infirmary. He deposited her in the infirmary, giving a nosebleed leading to a fall as explanation. The class would spread the truth anyway and he was fine with that.

* * *

When Ichika left the infirmary, he sighed, walked toward the dorms and then called out.

"You can come out now, Chifuyu-nee. I know you're there."

This stunned Chifuyu even more (a hallmark achievement in and of itself, as she didn't even register the use of her first name, which would normally rate a attendance smack on the head), as she was prone to surprising extremely paranoid people on her worst days. Still, she came out of her hidey-hole, and approached him, shamefaced. Having trawled through Memory Lane, she saw that her treatment of Ichika was borderline neglect, possibly mental abuse, bad enough that she was ashamed to think that she treasured Ichika the most.

"This talk is better served in the privacy of your room, Chifuyu-nee. We have a lot to talk about."

Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded. She even noted how manly he currently seemed, yet how boyish he also was. She missed all of his development, yet she thought she knew what was best for him. Heck, she hadn't even given him 'The Talk' yet, and she expected him to get a girlfriend! No, she wasn't prepared to hand Ichika over to anyone, not then, not now, not ever- she had a lifetime of mistakes to make up for. She also knew what her first question was going to be.

Her room, as dorm supervisor, was expectedly opulent, compared to the student dorms. It was meant for two people, considering that it shared the same design as the normal dorms, but for the lack of two single beds. In its place was a double bed, and a larger space for the school-issue desktop, which was even more high tech than the student use desktops.

Ichika took a seat in one of the chairs, and Chifuyu sat on the bed, both privately thinking that they should be sitting in the _seiza_ position.

"You can ask anything, Chifuyu-nee."

Chifuyu dove in without hesitation- she needed answers. "Ichika, when you berated Bodewig, you called yourself 'worthless little me' Care to explain that?" Despite the wording, it was clear that she was shaken by that the most.

He just laughed despondently. " That's easy. Ever since the kidnapping, I always knew that if I never existed, it would've been easier for you to live. In fact, I probably realized the biggest drawback to you was my existence, and the kidnapping reinforced that and made me realize my own powerlessness, my inability to protect you, by protecting myself, despite all that training. It forced me to take a good long look at my life, and I have to say, I was too much of a burden to you.

"Now, realizing that is one thing. Working to raise my worth is another thing entirely. Opening that can of worms was a disgusting affair, but I stuck through my own new training regimen, something helped along by my part-time job. I improved everything about myself, from my brain, which I'm actually holding back on, to my perception- I'm not _that_ dense, you know. Anything I could improve, I did. All naturally, of course. You would've noticed that I would, at times, till I was 12, wake up sore. Training till my limbs were sore was an excellent idea, it boosted my natural capabilities, even now, I feel itchy from lack of training and holding too much back.

Even then, I needed to protect you, and my worth was falling rapidly, and I needed to do something quickly. And that's when I started something that turned out to be useful as hell in my endeavours. Enough of that, next question please." When he finished, he was startled to find tears rolling off Chifuyu's, off Brunhilde's cheeks. "Was it that humiliating to hear, Chifuyu-nee?" asked the suddenly dense man. That question showed how bad the situation was- the humiliation he meant was that of him being her brother, not that of her actions as a sister. Knowing that, Chifuyu started to realize that Ichika was almost completely broken mentally- the kidnapping turned her treasure into something she didn't know.

And thus happened the biggest of all shocks, something the press would have a field day over if they ever found out. The world's strongest woman stood, walked towards him, pulled him up and hugged him tightly before she started apologizing repeatedly for leaving him alone, for not staying by his side, for neglecting his wellbeing, and for being the absolute worst big sister anyone could have had. Feeling that he needed to reassure her somehow, he drew her in, and kept telling her that he didn't blame her, that he was happy enough to keep protecting her, but she didn't let up for an hour.

For her part, Chifuyu was cursing herself for never seeing the signs- the overachieving, the knowledge he had even though his grades reflected mediocrity, the days he was sore, and the effort he made to keep _her_ happy, regardless. She couldn't believe her brother, her treasure thought himself unworthy of being what he was to her. In that moment, the Ice Queen broke down, only halfway through his answer, and swore an oath to never ever ignore her brother again. She no longer cared for proper conduct, not with him anyway. The complete answer only reinforced that particular oath.

When she stopped crying (she did break down enough to start sobbing heavily), she told him her decisions on her attitude in the future. "Ichika, after hearing all that, I can't say that I deserve to have a little brother as good as you. I failed you for the last five years, and to a lesser extent, for most of your life. I'm so sorry that I was never there for you. With that said, you no longer need to call me Orimura-sensei, ever. No objections (He was about to object), I've gone too far off the deep end to change my new decision. I only hope that it was the worst of it. I think I need to know the extent of your current abilities, and how you are now."

Ichika grinned, happy that he could finally tell her all about himself now...


	2. Beginning of a Bond

**Hey, Seiichi here! I decided that this two-shot turns into a story! So, here are the guidelines to it- Ichika is a legend of sorts, which will be shown here, and Phantom Task aren't going to have a good time. Madoka will be redeemed, by Ichika's and Chifuyu's hands, once he learns of his origins, and the canon harem girls, except maybe Tatenashi (you tell me who should come, but it's her, Kanzashi or one of the first five), will be excluded- I'm going with an incest based four-fivesome with three siblings. I'll leave the last one to your imagination. Onward!**

* * *

Ichika wanted to let her know about himself, but it needed time, their home and one more person. So he did the reasonable thing.

"Chifuyu-nee, I'll gladly tell you everything, but we'll have to spread this out over a week, so d'you think you could arrange a week off and for Taba-nee to join us at home? She needs to know my capabilities as well, you see." he added, seeing her grimace.

A day ago, she would've waited for summer. Knowing his broken psyche though, she was not about to refuse him. Though calling Tabane was an interesting requirement. "No, that's OK with me. And arranging it is no problem, but remedial classes will be a bit of a bitch."

"I told you I'm holding back on my brain, right? I finished the entire first year cirriculum as soon as I got it, so as long as you arrange for the week off, you don't need to worry about anything else." He retorted playfully, momentarily returning to the Ichika she knew. She also felt something new in her heart, which was indescribably warm and fuzzy, and applied to all that she knew and would know about him.

Mentally noting to analyze these new feelings later, she acquiesed to the request, and contacted the school authorities. Ichika contacted Tabane Shinonono for her, telling her to join them or 'face the consequences'. That put a bit of foreboding in Chifuyu's mind, and that warm feeling made her want to gut Tabane for some unknown reason, but she decided to find out later.

* * *

At the Orimura Residence, Chifuyu was wondering if she should tell Ichika of the Phantom Task and the Orimura clan's ideas. Knowing the slightly deranged him that she saw, a bit of forewarning him would work in the positive, and she now knew that he could take it.

She was scared that Ichika would hate her for what she was going to tell him though, and that made that warm feeling really tell her not to tell him. She decides that both Tabane and Ichika needed to know. Maybe Ichika would put his guard up and hide himself even better than before today.

At approximately 12:30 pm, Tabane Shinonono arrived and made Chifuyu get a headache. As for why, anyone would get one after seeing a large metal carrot destroy his/her home garden. She greeted them in her usual nonsensical way and then got her head Iron Claw'd by Chifuyu, as if it was part of nature's plan.

It probably was.

A hearty lunch later ("Ikkun, Taba-nee wants more curry" was a vehemently rejected request from the almost insane creator of the IS), Ichika, Chifuyu and Tabane were seated on a couch in the living room. Tabane started the conversation with a demand, having learnt of their morning conversation during lunch.

"So, what did Ikkun want me here for? A week is something I don't spare that easily, yanno. Taba-nee was working on something special for Houki-chan!" Before she could continue though, Chifuyu raised her hand

"Before Ichika says anything, there is something I have to talk about. Since our conversation this morning, I've been thinking about your safety a lot more. With what I saw, I think you deserve to know. Tabane here doesn't know of this as well, but just hear me out. It's about our past, Ichika. We weren't abandoned, we ran away from our family, and for excellent reason too. You don't remember because you were hit while we were escaping..."

And thus began the tale of an extremist clan known as the Orimura clan, which was quite twisted in its own right. The Orimura clan was an extremely well-respected clan, which went to their heads. They started plotting for something and began putting things together during the Warring States Period of Japan. To do so, they needed to disappear. So they faded slowly into oblivion, but kept plotting. When genetic manipulation became a possibility they started experimenting with it. And things got worse when the experiments started to get results. Their plans were accelerated by centuries.

The pinnacle of this plan the was creation of Phantom Task, an organization of extremely skilled assassins and warriors. Their best operative to this day was one Chifuyu Orimura. Her physical stats were off the charts, abnormal by human standards, and she was an efficient killer. However, her one flaw was her ability to love. The clan, seeing her skill, decided to clone her and train her and said clones to be loyal to them. The cloning showed results when she was 8, and Chifuyu felt attached to the older of the two successful clones, while the younger clone was still in development.

The older clone was Ichika. Now curious about their clan's objective, she searched the headquarters. What she found made her enraged. She was not happy with their plans for world domination, and decided to escape. By this time, Ichika was a healthy one-year-old baby. Finding herself unable to resist, she decided to take him with her.

She proceeded to raid the lab holding Ichika and killed everyone in her way. She grabbed him and left, leaving the younger clone, which was close to completion alone (she couldn't bring herself to destroy it or afford to bring it along- how would she care for an embryo 7 months in development?) and then left.

Since then, she as considered Ichika her brother, and raised him as such. They had no official records (clones and genetic experiments of the clan never did) and so, were able to be registered as orphans that escaped the government's notice. The abandonment story was something Chifuyu came up with to deflect the clan. It mostly succeeded, till he was kidnapped by Phantom Task. Chifuyu knew that their past had caught up to them, and so strove to protect them.

Tabane's expression grew darker as the tale was told, until all signs of nonsensical behaviour had disappeared. With such people out there, her beloved creations would not be excluded from the clan's plan.

"Chii-chan, I'm sorry that you had to go through that, but you should've told me earlier. I'm not sure Ikkun feels happy to have his past concealed, right... Ikkun? IKKUN!?" she screamed at the end because Ichika's expression scared her. Seeing as she wasn't scared in the least of Chifuyu, that was saying something.

Even Chifuyu was a bit unnerved by his expression. It would seem as if Ichika was angry, but at what she didn't know. Venturing to ask, she said "Ichika, what's wrong? Was it too much to tell you? Please respond, Ichika, you're worrying me!"

Ichika was considering the ramifications of what his sister had just told him. His instincts told him to keep his secret for a day longer, but he delayed it, because his promise to her took precedence, and the need to tell her just jumped from 'to calm her and fulfill my need' level to 'CRITICAL SITUATION! IMMEDIATE REVEAL, ALL CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED!' level.

Knowing that this was going to hurt, he decided. "The two of you need to follow me, NOW! Chifuyu-nee, thanks for telling me the truth. The me before the kidnapping wouldn'tve been capable of accepting it, but the me now is a different story. I was planning on a full tour of the house as I've made it, but for now, secrets are going to be spilt left and right. Stay close, both of you." His words were normal, but his tone was enough to tell both ladies that going against him was not in their best interests.

Ichika led them to the basement[1], where a steel trapdoor was seen. He immediately said "Open, bypass security, grant full access to Chifuyu Orimura and Tabane Shinonono NOW!" before asking them to register their handprints and their irises. They climbed down it to see the biggest set of computers in the world. Tabane wanted to immediately work on it, but Chifuyu, recognizing the place, stopped her. Just as she turned to ask Ichika why they were at his place, she was shocked.

Standing there was Ichika alright, but he was different. He wore a mask, for one. An all too familiar fox mask. Tabane turned to ask Ichika where they were when she saw him and also stopped. Both their brains shut down.

Ichika just said "Welcome to The Armageddon. For the second time, Chifuyu-nee, and for the first time, Taba-nee. We are the only ones who can now enter this realm freely."

"Ichika, what's the meaning of this? Do you work for Ragnarok? Why is his base under our home? Did you learn about computers? Is that your special skill?"

"Taba-nee can do much better than that. ARE you Ragnarok?" Tabane completely went above Chifuyu, receiving a glare in response. Ichika just laughed in response.

"Good guess, Taba-nee. Yes, I am Ragnarok, humble hacker at your service. By the way, that unmanned IS wasn't my idea- those theories are baseless rumors. Still, it was a shock when you came to me about hacking the IS Academy's database to delete all kinds of data about me. I think you know why now. Better protection and- OOF!" The tackle hug was entirely new region.

Chifuyu was even more proud of her brother, and her ability to express it was now unleashed. A tackle hug worthy of Tabane (which made Tabane jealous- Ichika easily dodged her when she arrived earlier) was initiated, with Ichika being the recipient. He who had prepared for fear, doesn't expect acceptance, as the saying goes.


	3. Determining Strengths and War Boils

"This is somewhat unexpected, and I DO enjoy it but could you get off for a second, Chifuyu-nee? Just, I have to get ready for something else, and so do you" requested Ichika with a wry-yet-happy smile. His big sister, who was also starting to feel something beyond familial affection for her brother (even as she denied it to herself), decided to let him go, wondering what they had to prepare for.

Tabane, even while showing jealousy towards Ichika's acceptance of Chifuyu's hugs due to her crush on him, was thinking of how to disrupt Phantom Task and the Orimura Clan. She knew that the IS was created for space exploration, but those government idiots had to force her to turn to military prowess for gaining attention. Now the consequences are worse than ever. And she knew that they would target her, if only for her knowledge of the IS. Knowing what she knew now, hacking Ichika's computers was not in her dreams, and she knew that he would provide better security if asked for it.

Now, Ichika was not happy that Chifuyu had risked almost everything for him. It just made him realize that his skills were better revealed to her. However, now the secret function of the IS core was even more important to hide… that was something even Tabane knew would be problematic. War with the Orimura Clan was the best measure he could come up with. Even so, he wasn't about to let himself be the only one declaring war on them- Ragnarok is powerful, but one stick is nothing compared to a bundle. He needed allies

The Americans were the first to come to mind… then he remembered that he could do a public broadcast in order to reveal the organization's existence without revealing the clan's identity. Now that he wasn't alone, and Chifuyu and Tabane seemed interested in the database that he had gathered (even if Chifuyu had Tabane in a sleeper choke hold for some reason), he decided to ask them for their opinion on the correct action.

"Chifuyu-nee, Taba-nee, that's enough! We need to think of measures to protect ourselves!" Seeing that the former let go, and the latter was now breathing normally, he continued "We need to think of how to declare war on them without letting them know that we know of them. I need ideas for not letting the Orimuras know of our knowledge of their ideas."

Tabane was happy about Ichika's idea of a war, but a war can't be declared alone… Who would be their allies? Chifuyu was thinking in a different direction- how to dissuade this new Ichika from his current plan of action- since she wasn't sure of his combat prowess and she wasn't allowed to fight herself.

Ichika seemed to be reading their minds, as he answered Chifuyu's question first- "You know, we need to spar, Chifuyu-nee. It's been too long since we sparred. Also, the Alaska Treaty won't hold us back now, I put us officially under Ragnarok's protection a few minutes ago. You know just how powerful Armageddon is in protecting my interests in a lawsuit. You being unable to battle in an IS is a non-issue as of now."

Tabane never found out why, but the boy seemed so attractive then that she tackle-hugged him (this time successfully). Chifuyu was staring at him slack-jawed. She never saw his decisive side and she felt something new in her chest, a warm feeling that suddenly felt like giving Tabane her Iron Claw.

Since it was decided that they were going to spar, they moved to his sparring Dojo- a steel room with a weapon-stand and a complete array of weapons- Ichika's 'adrenaline-driven' proficiency was calculated. Never had she seen such an impressive display of weapons. She picked up a bokken and expected Ichika to do the same. Ichika, however, picked up a pair of blunt claws- the kind that changed size (AN- Imagine Wolverine Claws except not embedded in his bones) and stood opposite her.

They bowed and took their stances- Chifuyu a standard Kendo stance, and Ichika a relaxed boxer's stance. Tabane became referee (the AI was afraid of refereeing this spar, oddly, even though refereeing this spar basically meant declaring the winner at the end- a no-holds-barred match) and the spar began.

'I think 30% of my full potential for starters' thought Chifuyu as she dashed forward. On the other hand, 'Let's go at 20%' thought Ichika as he defended against her. The clash ended in a dead heat, and a shockwave confirming the AI's fears. Chifuyu broke off contact and went in for a diagonal slash from the bottom right. Ichika brushed it off as if it was normal and thrust with one of the claws on his right hand. She pommeled the claw away and took distance, him closing in on her easily. This set the tone for the spar, which lasted well over 30 minutes, with her unleashing 76% of her skill and power, while he used around 58% of his. The match ended in a draw.

Tabane was positively regretting(?) giving Yukihira Nigata to Ichika- Ignoring the enemy's IS defence with his powers included was definitely an unfair advantage for him. Chifuyu was able to guess that he was taking it easy on her though, and was confident of him facing an army of IS pilots easily. Hey, if she was capable of doing so, then the one who was relaxedly sparring with her on equal grounds was more than capable of doing so. So combat prowess was one non-issue in this trio.

Currently, they were relaxing in front of Armageddon's interface. And Tabane was wondering if Ichika was as proficient as Chifuyu in the Iron Claw of (admittedly little, for Chifuyu) repute. Ichika answered her thoughts with a "Taba-nee, I'm generally more affectionate than Chifuyu-nee. Thus, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't give you an Iron Claw- that's her job." Chifuyu glared at Ichika in mock anger, even though she felt that was sparing the rabbit-ear wearing genius a lot of pain- she uses 5% of her power in that technique- and was him being a nutjob in general. She also felt a lot of animosity towards her genes, which she wasn't sure of.


End file.
